Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Geologic map of Bryce Canyon region, Utah. Lambert Conformal Projection, standard parallels at 30 and 50N, grid spacing 0.1 degrees, 200 meters per pixel. Bryce Canyon National Park is outlined by a black line bordered in white south of State Route 12 and east of US 89. Blue are late Paleozoic formations, Green are Mesozoic, bright yellow are early Tertiary, pink, red and orange are volcanic rocks. Pale yellow is Quaternary. Purple lines are faults. Pale blue lines are Interstates, red lines are US highways, magenta lines are other roads.

Bryce Canyon is located where the Colorado Plateau begins to break up into the Basin and Range Province. The park is located on the eastern edge of a west-tilted fault block.

Topographic map of the Bryce Canyon region, Utah. Lambert Conformal Projection, standard parallels at 30 and 50N, grid spacing 0.1 degrees, 200 meters per pixel. Bryce Canyon National Park is outlined by a black line bordered in white south of State Route 12 and east of US 89.

A contour map gives a faint impression of the incredible intricacy of the topography. Lambert Conformal Projection, standard parallels at 30 and 50N, grid spacing 0.1 degrees, 50 meters per pixel. Park boundary is dark blue, Bryce Canyon proper is orange.

Bryce Amphitheater


	My first impression, looking at pictures, and even visiting here in 2018, was "Where's the canyon? The principal interest here is the intricate fretwork along the escarpment. Bryce Canyon itself is the broad valley carpeted with trees.